Phone Box
by cheeses
Summary: After Apparating to Tottenham Court Road and facing the Death eaters in the all night cafe, Hermione stumbles upon a phone box and decides to amend a few wrongs she created before leaving. Just a bit of fluff. Ginny/Hermione.


**Some words were taken from 'A Place to Hide' Chapter Nine of The Deathly Hallows, these sections are not mine nor will the ever be mine. The characters are also, not mine, Harry Potter isn't mine, NOTHING IS MINE... well apart from this fics story line.**

**Just one chapter, nothing major.  
**

**Enjoy.  
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Hermione set her sights upon a small and shabby all night café.

Solace was found in the most unexpected places, right now, that saying applied to the trio's situation.

"There" Hermione nodded her head towards it, Ron and Harry both agreed and they crossed the road quickly. As a white Ford nearly clipped Ron, they blundered into the café.

"This will do" Hermione breathed. A layer of light grease lay atop of all the formica-topped tables. Harry made a small grunt of disgust, but at least it was empty. Harry slipped into a booth and wearily avoided touching the table.

Ron did the same, Hermione numbly joined them.

The witch hankered for a certain red haired girl she had left behind in the rush at the Burrow.

Hermione was sure she had seen a phone box just outside, maybe if Ginny had arrived at her parents house, maybe she could call her.

The thought was heavy upon her.

Hermione felt a certain degree of culpability for leaving Ginny without an apology. Hermione had caused the oppugnancy between them, she at had to apologise. The brunet couldn't see herself being able to push it to the back of her mind any time soon, even with the danger they were sure to face.

Harry was uncomfortable, her felt like a sitting duck. Ron coughed to break their silence.

"We're not far from the Leaky Cauldron-"

"Ron, we can't" Hermione said at once. If they left now, she couldn't get the chance to call Ginny. She needed to buy time, another ten minuets or so, then she would slip out and call her.

"Not to stay. Just to see what's going on" Ron gushed.

"Ronald, we _know_ what's going on!" Hermione tensed, her jaw clenched and her eyes welled with stressed tears.

Ginny had to be okay.

"OKAY! It was just a suggestion" Ron recoiled.

The trio soon relapsed into silence.

Hermione ordered three cappuccinos, as Harry no longer donned the invisibility cloak.

Ron soon quipped after Hermione explained what a cappuccinos was, that she didn't need the caffeine, she was already highly strung.

As Hermione thumped Ron on the arm, two burly workmen entered the cafe.

Harry, Ron and Hermione all tensed as they slipped into the next booth.

Thinking of Ginny again, fear bubbled in Hermione's stomach like acid.

Suddenly, she was restless. Through her internal debate whether to leave for the phone box at that moment or not, her head span to the door so often, Harry thought the girl had developed a twitch.

"You okay Hermione?" Harry spoke softly. Hermione nodded sadly.

"I say we find a quiet place to Disapparate, then we could send the Order a message" Hermione whispered.

"You can do the Patrounus thing then?"

"Not well, but it can try, right now, I'm too tired to even-"  
The two workmen then made identical movement. Harry, Ron and Hermione soon had their wands at the ready. Ron fumbled to cast an accurate spell in the heat of the moment, the waitress who had gone to make their coffees was still in the kitchen.

Ron ended up falling victim to a binding spell, which resulted in the Death Eater of whom it had been cast by being hit with a particularly forceful _Petrificus Totalus_. He fell flat upon his face and Ron squirmed in his binds.

Hermione turned quickly to free him when _Expulso_ caused the booth the trio had been sat at to explode. Wood, plastic and tile erupted around them. Hermione crashed to the floor, Harry flew into the wall.

The remaining Death Eater made his intention clear that he wanted Harry. Hermione blinked away the fuzz across her vision and wordlessly cast _Stupefy_ to hinder his killer advance. Barley able to hear through the ringing in her ears, she quickly broke the binding spell upon Ron. Shaking and numb, Hermione waisted no time in crawling to her feet. Harry was soon at her side, covering in debris and had gained a few cuts upon his cheeks. Hermione brushed the plaster from her hair and helped Ron up from the floor.

"Bloody hell" he gasped and shook his limbs to regain feeling in them. Hermione gulped, she found it hard to since her breathing was heavy and erratic with shock.

Harry advanced to the Death Eaters.

"Dolohov" Ron snarled as he looked upon the second Death Eater.

"This is Rowle" Harry rolled the stunned Death Eater over with his foot.

"It's all good knowing what they are called! What I want to know is how they found us!" Hermione said hysterically. Harry knew the brunet was right.

"Lock the door" he spoke sternly, Hermione nodded. "Ron, get the lights"

Ron put the Deluminator to use and plunged the café into darkness.

"Wait the waitress" Harry gasped and as if on cue, she appeared with the coffees. Hermione rolled her eyes and through the slight light, generated from the blue light of the cooler in the kitchen, said a quick apology and knocked the woman out.

The tray clattered to the floor.

"Hermione!" Ron snapped, she was reluctant to really pay attention to him.

"What do we do now?" Harry slotted his wand into the back pocket of his jeans.

"Kill them? They'd kill us" Ron muttered.

"A charm" Hermione started, she twirled her wand between her fingers due to her nerves.

"Brilliant" Harry sounded profoundly relived. "A Memory Charm"

Hermione nodded and took a calming breath before pointing her wand at each other the Death Eater's heads and casting _Obliviate. _

The task was done in a matter of minuets, alas for Hermione, it felt like hours. Time felt like it stopped for her and her alone.

With closed eyes, Hermione tucked away her wand and felt the presence of the change in her pocket. Muggle money from her savings account, she had emptied it before going to the Burrow.

She had stashed it away the day before she relived herself of her parents.

Now in Australia, with no idea they had a daughter, Hermione felt almost like a free agent.

"Hermione?" Ron's voice cut through her thoughts.

"I have to do something" Hermione reopened her eyes, only to be faced with a similar darkness that had been cloaked over her eyes by her eyelids.

"We have to clean this bomb sight up" Ron snapped, but she jogged from the café, she unlocked the door and with a jingle of the bell, practically sprinted into the street.

Nobody questioned her presence, nobody had any idea who she was and sadly, Hermione was accustomed to such treatment.

Alas, Hermione knew someone who definitely knew who she was and in turn, they needed to know what they meant to the young witch.

Hermione opened the door of the phone box, as the door creaked shut, she dug in her pocket for the right amount of change.

Fourty pence was then slotted into the phone and she stabbed in her home number.

Hermione listened to the phone drone for a minuet, when nobody answered the call cut off, her money sprung back out to her.

"No, no, no" Hermione hissed and grabbed it from the tiny curve in the metal box. She slotted the two twenty pence pieces into the slot again. The drone began to grate upon Hermione's flesh, like nails, it pained her not to hear anyone upon the other end.

"Ginny, please pick up" Hermione whispered, if she rang twice the witch must have some sense to pick it up, after all, Hermione's family knew her parents had relocated.

No answer.

"Merlin Ginny" Hermione listened to her two coins plop into the return slot. "Third time lucky" she wished and slotted them in.

Hermione practically crushed the phone into her ear and waited, with her eyes closed, her body weak and still shaken.

With three drones to go, the phone was then answered.

"_Hello?"_ Ginny's voice washed warily down the other end.

"GINNY!" Hermione's flushed with relief.

"_Where are you?" _

"Tottenham Court Road, I'm at a phone box" Hermione's voice broke, but she didn't care, she was just glad to hear Ginny's voice. She was safe, that's all that mattered. "Ginny, I'm sorry" she sighed.

"_Sorry?"_

"I'm sorry for-for-not returning anything, for just, leaving you-"  
_"It's fine Hermione, you made yourself pretty clear"_ Ginny spoke bitterly in a scoff.

"No, I didn't Ginny" Hermione bowed her head and took a moment to breathe. Tears welled in her eyes and she slammed her left hand to the side of the phone box to hold herself up right.

Her body quaked. "Ginny, I love you" that's when tears began to fall. They rolled down Hermione's cheeks and dripped from her jaw. "I'm sorry I didn't kiss you back, I'm sorry ran-I-I really didn't know what to do"  
_"Has something happened?"_

"Ginny, listen!" Hermione groaned and sniffled. "Just know that I love you"

"_You left!"_

"Sometimes people come back, Ginny, I'm one of those people, I'll never run off, I'll never deny anything" Hermione wheezed, she heard a knock upon the side of the phone box, taking a glance to her side, it was Harry.

The other end of the line was silent.

"Ginny?" she whispered.

"_You better come back Hermione Jean Granger" _Ginny's voice was thick, but fierce.

Hermione laughed through sobs.

"Don't worry, I will" a crooked smile formed on her lips.

"_'Mione, you owe me a kiss"_

"Anything" Hermione sniffed and looked to the top of the phone box, as if sending a prayer up to the stars.

"-I have to go, Harry's waiting, we can't-"

_"No, wait, Hermione, I love you-"_

The call cut off before Ginny could finish. The stern voice of a automated woman telling Hermione how to make her next call fuzzed in her ear.

Hermione let go of the phone as if it were lethal and Harry yanked the door open.

"Let's- are you okay?" Harry took in Hermione's tear stained complexion. With all her emotions spent, Hermione nodded meekly and followed Harry back into the café.

Hermione knew she had a happy ending to look forward to.


End file.
